New York: After the final whistle of his 50th and final game with Chelsea, Rafa Benitez walked toward the visitors' dugout at Yankee Stadium, raised his left hand in a small acknowledgement to someone in the crowd and disappeared into the tunnel. "A lot of fans, they were supporting in the end," he said. "Some of them, maybe we couldn't change their minds. But we did our job."
Far away from the jeering supporters at London's Stamford Bridge, Benitez completed his brief but productive stint as manager with a 5-3 loss to Manchester City in a season-ending friendly on Saturday night.
Distrusted by Chelsea fans following his tenure at Liverpool, Benitez never settled in after he was hired on a seven-month contract in November to replace Roberto Di Matteo, who was sacked six months after leading Chelsea to their first Champions League title. Still, Benitez did manage to lead Chelsea to the Europa League title during his short time with the team.
Outgoing Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho is expected to return to Chelsea for a second stint, the ninth managerial change under owner Roman Abramovich since 2004. Benitez appears headed to Napoli....
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09:41 AM, May 26, 2013
England: Rafa Benitez can virtually wrap up part one of his mission at Chelsea by guiding the team to the cusp of the Champions League with a win over top-four rival Tottenham in the Premier League on Wednesday. The Spaniard is still unloved at Stamford Bridge but even the most ardent critic of Benitez must be impressed with the job he's done in his six months at the club. By...
11:37 AM, May 07, 2013
London: Continued speculation that Jose Mourinho is set to return to Chelsea "where people love me" cut little ice with interim manager Rafa Benitez who remains focused on guiding the London side to the Europa League final. Chelsea host FC Basel on Thursday holding a 2-1 lead from their semi-final first leg and Benitez is two matches away from claiming a European crown for a club he will leave at...
11:10 PM, May 01, 2013
London: Rafa Benitez will continue to rotate his Chelsea players as they bid to deal with a fixture pile-up and rebound from two consecutive defeats, the club's interim manager said on Tuesday. The Spaniard left out senior players John Terry and Frank Lampard for Sunday's FA Cup semi-final defeat by Manchester City but says he will stick to his guns amid growing pressure to retain a settled side for their...
12:17 AM, Apr 17, 2013
After another weekend of cutting criticism, Chelsea's stop-gap manager Rafa Benitez achieved a measure of vindication with Monday's FA Cup victory over Manchester United. ...
05:18 PM, Apr 02, 2013
United visit Sunderland on Saturday when victory would open up an 18-point lead, at least until second-placed Manchester City host Newcastle United later. ...
09:23 AM, Mar 29, 2013
"We had a lot of success thanks to the honesty and open mind everyone has in the dressing room," Cech was quoted as saying by British media. ...
06:05 PM, Mar 04, 2013
Demba Ba gave under-fire Chelsea manager Rafa Benitez some much-needed respite by scoring the winner in a 1-0 victory over West Bromwich Albion on Saturday, provisionally moving the team into third place in the Premier League. ...
10:35 PM, Mar 02, 2013
Benitez told the players on Monday their attitude had cost a series of managers the sack and also criticised them for a lack of effort and for failing to grasp tactics. ...
11:05 PM, Feb 26, 2013
Terry has endured a difficult season, missing two months with a knee injury, and then struggling to regain match fitness. ...
04:22 PM, Feb 19, 2013
Terry could take his first step towards comeback by featuring for the club's under-21 team as an over-age player this week. ...
08:38 PM, Jan 08, 2013
Some astute tactical tinkering and the return to form of some key players has put Chelsea back in the Premier League title picture and helped interim manager Rafa Benitez in his quest to gain acceptance among the club's disgruntled fans. ...
08:31 AM, Dec 29, 2012
While seven points behind Manchester City and 11 adrift of Manchester United, Chelsea have a game in hand after beating Villa last weekend. ...
08:45 AM, Dec 25, 2012
Terry injured his knee against Liverpool last month in his first game back after serving a four-game ban. ...
08:57 PM, Dec 21, 2012
Having flown halfway around the world only to return home tired and trophyless from the Club World Cup in Japan, Chelsea's weary band of jet-setters are unlikely to be savouring a League Cup visit to Leeds United on Wednesday. ...
09:16 AM, Dec 18, 2012
Benitez has drawn twice and lost once in his three matches since replacing the popular Roberto Di Matteo. ...
08:35 PM, Dec 01, 2012
London: Chelsea's interim manager Rafa Benitez has said he expects the club's long-serving England players Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole to leave Stamford Bridge at the end of the season, British media reported on Saturday. Asked if it was the end of a glorious era for the pair who will be out of contract, Benitez said: "I think so, that is the case at the moment. I am only here...
07:49 AM, Nov 24, 2012
London: Chelsea's interim manager Rafael Benitez said the challenge of trying to win five trophies this season was too great an opportunity to turn down as he returned to the Premier League on Thursday. The 52-year-old Spaniard, who left Liverpool at the end of the 2009-10 season and has replaced Roberto Di Matteo at Stamford Bridge, told a packed news conference he was unconcerned about any notion of a short-team...
09:39 AM, Nov 23, 2012
London: Chelsea have hired Rafa Benitez as interim manager until the end of the season, only hours after firing Roberto Di Matteo following the club's dip in form in the Premier League and Champions League title defense. The 52-year-old Benitez becomes the ninth manager under Chelsea's Russian owner, Roman Abramovich, who displayed his trademark ruthlessness by sacking Di Matteo only six months after the Italian guided the London club to...
01:27 AM, Nov 22, 2012
London: Arguably the hottest of hot seats in soccer is vacant yet again after Chelsea's ruthless Russian owner Roman Abramovich removed Andre Villas-Boas on Sunday. The callow Portuguese lasted just 256 days at Stamford Bridge before "the project", as he usually referred to the task of revitalising the west London club's ageing squad, was aborted. The 34-year-old became the sixth coach to be axed since the Russian oligarch bought the...
08:25 PM, Mar 05, 2012
